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December 2011

$722 will buy a lot of shoes. This is the amount East Meadows Elementary will contribute to the Warm the Soles program. Pictured below are members of the East Meadows Student Council, representatives from Nebo Credit Union, sixth-grade teachers, Garrett Andersen and Dwight Liddiard. Many thanks to all who contributed donations this year. We wish everyone a happy holiday season.

All aboard! The 1st graders boarded The Polar Express today and paraded through the halls to the North Pole. They had decorated a box to look like a Christmas train car at home. They were served donuts and hot chocolate and watched the movie The Polar Express. Thanks to the parent volunteers who decorated, brought donuts and chocolate milk and helped serve.

The 5th grade students have been working very hard since early in October to earn lucky bucks. They earned these as good deeds were performed, good behavior was displayed and good study habits were developed. Today, December 19 the students got to spend their play money on a variety of merchandise. They purchased such things as elf hats, reindeer antlers, christmas socks, coloring books, scarves, gloves, teddy bears, giant pens, pencils, folders, cards, lotions, lip gloss, christmas decorations, soda pop and a variety of candy and many other fun items. This was the first sale of two for the year. The next one will be in the Spring.

East Meadows 2nd graders dove in to the candy as they decorated their graham-cracker, gingerbread houses. Students got creative with make-shift chimneys and yard ornaments. This is just one of the fun activities students get to participate in during this holiday season. Family members joined in on the effort to put together the edible houses.

Meet Tricia Peterson. Many of you may be familiar with her because she was the Art Specialist at East meadows Elementary for 5 years. She now teaches fourth grade. During her time spent as the Art Specialist, Mrs. Peterson discovered that there were many ways to learn. She wanted to share those experiences with students and decided to become a teacher. She loves having fun with her students and has a great sense of humor. One day she came to school with her hair curly and a student said to her, “I didn’t know it was crazy hair day today.” She hasn’t worn her hair like that since but got a good laugh out of that. Her favorite movie is Finding Nemo. She says that perhaps she feels like Dori sometimes. Mrs. Peterson’s hope for her students is that they progress far more than they ever thought they could because they believe in themselves.

It was all about atoms, molecules, chemical changes and things that go pop at East Meadows today. Clark Planetarium sponsored an assembly for students to observe and participate in science experiments. Students were encouraged to not only make observations but to also learn to communicate their observations by using their five senses. Sixth-grade students continued with their own small assembly and learned about the planets. They lined up and spaced themselves appropriately in order to gain a perspective of the distance between the planets in our solar system. East Meadows thanks Clark Planetarium for providing an interactive learning experience for the students.

Members of East Meadows Student Council, Amberly Perrins and Lorin Wyss

Today East Meadows Elementary kicked off the Warm the Soles program. This program is sponsored by Nebo Credit Union. Donations from the credit union and local schools help provide shoes for those that may have difficulty purchasing them. Last year East Meadows collected a generous $900. Members of the student council will come by the classrooms each morning to collect funds for the program until Friday, December 16. East Meadows would love to meet or exceed last year’s generous donation and wishes to thank ahead of time those who choose to contribute.

Natalie Mecham is super organized and is always looking ahead at curriculum, she is also never stuck in a rut. She is constantly evolving her teaching strategies. She finds new ideas and innovative ways to help students understand—and she is always willing to share what she finds. She is dedicated to her students at school in addition to her family at home. She thinks of the children in her class as she does her own kids. She has been a leader in implementing the new writing core and has set an example of integration for her colleagues. Natalie’s enthusiasm, hard-work, and dedication make her an outstanding team-member and an incredible teacher. Any teacher is fortunate to work with her and any student is lucky to be in her class.

If you have attended elementary schools in the local area, chances are you have probably participated in a favorite Christmas tradition. LaRee Liddiard, elementary school teacher in Nephi, created her own paper patterns of angels, stockings, wreaths, lanterns and other Christmas designs many years ago. Students added the tissue paper and carefully crafted their design. The decorations were then placed on windows around the school. When LaRee retired, she passed on these patterns to her son Dwight Liddiard, principal, who has been carrying on the tradition at different schools for 27 years. East Meadows 5th-grade students recently finished their decorations and the school windows are now adorned with these stained-glass patterns for all to enjoy until the Christmas holidays.

On Monday, November, 21 Mr. Kent Jex set up his tepee and dressed in his Indian clothing and talked with the Kindergarten and 3rd grade students about Indians. They were invited by class into his tepee where he had many items for them to view. He talked about how he had lived with the Indians for a couple of years in Arizona. This was a very fun activity to have the same week as Thanksgiving. Mr. Jex is the grandfather of Sam Jex in Mrs. Mecham’s class and Sadie Jex in Mrs. McEntire’s class. Thank you for taking time and sharing with our students Mr. Jex.